NCIS Chronicles
by nedloh
Summary: The first case they must solve is Lieutenant Maxwell Frame's death. A young navy officer who was found dead in an alley with a mysterious poisoning. Please Review.


Ziva David slowly awoke to the sound of cars outside her window. The sun shone through her blinds, sending a cascade of light across her bed. She could already tell that it was going to be another beautiful day. She turned over in bed, to look at her clock and discovered she still had an hour and half before she had to be to work. She decided she would get dressed and head out early, so she could take a walk before making her way to work. She took a pair of khaki pants out of her dresser and picked out a navy blue shirt from her closet. She carried them to the bathroom and turned on the water, turning the knob far to left. She slowly undressed and stepped into the running water. The hot water felt so good on her body and she soaked in it until the water started to turn cold. She quickly hopped out and dried herself with the white towel laying on her counter.

When she was finally ready she locked her apartment door and decided to take the stairs. She ran down the five flights of stairs and made her way out into the warm, sunny air. The streets were already crowded and the sidewalks were packed. She decided she would take the long way to work, since she had the time.

Ziva arrived at work after about a twenty minute walk, with plenty of time to spare. She went inside and the air conditioned building was a nice feeling after walking outside. She made her way towards her desk when she saw Gibbs sitting at his desk, looking impatient.

"Its about time, don't you think?" he said.

"Gibbs," she insisted, "I'm twenty minutes early!"

"You're actually forty minutes late, Ziva, its called Daylight Savings Time, a little thing we have in America, you'll get used to it."

"Oh, Abby told me about something like that, I wasn't quite sure what she was trying to say, I promise I'll be here on time tomorrow."

"It's fine, DiNozzo and McGee are out, a Naval officer was found dead in an alley, they're speaking to his wife now."

"What do you want me to do? Run background checks? Pull up bank records?" She was very anxious, still upset that she had been late for work.

"Ziva," Gibbs said calmly, "I don't want you to do anything."

"What?" she raised her voice. "If it's about that whole Daylight Savings Account thing, I'm really sorry. I swear I had no clue."

"It's Savings Time, Ziva, and I told you it's fine. I want you to stay here and wait. We have a new agent on our team and I would like you to be here when she arrives so that you can greet her."

Ziva had a surprised and somewhat disgusted look on her face. She wasn't entirely happy with the idea of having another agent on the team, especially another woman.

Gibbs rested his hand on Ziva's shoulder and leaned in, "Be nice." he said softly.

Gibbs walked away and Ziva muttered under her breath, "I'll try."

* * *

Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Timothy McGee briskly made their way up the stairs to the porch of a small white house. The house belonged to Jillian Frame, the wife of Lieutenant Maxwell Frame who had been found dead the night before in an alley. Jillian had been notified by the police when his body had been found.

Special Agent Timothy McGee rang the doorbell and waited patiently for Mrs. Frame to answer the door. Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo on the other hand impatiently tapped his foot. After a short time a woman in her mid-thirties answered the door. She had shoulder-length dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She wore a pink blouse and white pants and was wearing an apron covered with flour and dough, obviously she had been baking.

"Mrs. Frame," McGee addressed the woman, "I am Special Agent Timothy McGee and this is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. We are with NCIS and wanted to ask you a few questions about your husbands death."

"Sure, that's fine," her face seemed flush.

"Can we come in?" asked DiNozzo.

"Yeah," said Jillian, "Of course."

McGee and DiNozzo followed Jillian to the living room. The house was kept up nice and was furnished with the very best. McGee seemed to notice that there were no pictures of her husband at all. Jillian gestured to the men to sit on the couch and she sat in her chair. She waited for them to begin the questioning.

"Had you noticed any changes in your husband's behavior?" asked DiNozzo.

"How would I know?" said Jillian "We've been separated for five years and I haven't seen him since. He had loyalty issues, he just couldn't stay away from the other women."

* * *

Ziva sat at her desk doodling on a piece of paper, bored out of her mind. She couldn't stand to just sit and do nothing at all so she decided to look up some information on Lieutenant Maxwell Frame. Just as she started to scan the information on the NCIS database, Gibbs walked in along with McGee and DiNozzo. Ziva tried hide her computer screen but she had been caught.

"I knew you wouldn't just sit still," Gibbs said, "So, what do you have on him."

"Lieutenant Maxwell Frame," Ziva began, "is 37 years old and has been in the Navy for ten years and has been married for 13 years to Jillian Frame. He originally grew up in Buffalo, NY and moved with his wife to DC when he joined the Navy. He has no criminal and from what I can see he's just your average John."

"Joe," DiNozzo corrected her, "It's average Joe."

"Right."

"Boss, his wife says that they have been separated for five years, she hasn't seen him at all since their separation," added McGee.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered, "check in with Ducky, find out the exact time and cause of death. McGee, go talk with Abby and find out the results of the forensic tests."

"Right Boss," said Dinozzo.

"I'm on it," McGee said.

Gibbs started to walk away when Ziva stopped him, "What about me?"

"You," Gibbs reminded her, "are waiting for our new agent."

* * *

Dr. Donald Mallard carefully cleaned his tools as he put them away. He stopped and looked at the dead body of Lieutenant Maxwell Frame, pausing with his work.

"How unfortunate that you had to die at such a young age," he spoke quietly to the body. "You had your whole life ahead of you."

McGee entered into the room quietly, hoping he hadn't interpreted one of Dr. Mallard's conversations with his corpses. He walked over to stand next to the body and Dr. Mallard. McGee didn't have to tell Dr. Mallard what he needed to know. Working in NCIS for as many years as he had, he knew the routine.

"It looks as if our young lieutenant died yesterday afternoon at around six o'clock. His body was only found at around midnight, so his body was discovered fairly quick. As for the cause of death it seems to be food poisoning. The exact poisoning I am unsure of, I have sent the stomach contents to Abby to examine them."

"Anything else, Ducky?" McGee asked.

"Yes, in fact. If you look at the forehead you can see some bruising, possibly from being hit. I would say that he may have been in a fight prior to his death."

* * *

Tony stepped into the elevator and rode down to Abby's lab. Before he even reached her floor he could already hear her heavy metal music blaring from the speakers. The doors opened, he stepped out, and immediately she stopped what she was doing to see who had arrived.

"Hey Tony!" she shouted over the music as she waved violently. He walked over to see what she was working on and saw she was examining the stomach contents of Lieutenant Frame.

"So, what lovely things have you found in the Lieutenant's stomach contents?" he asked unenthusiastically. That question was all she needed to become excited and jump into her explanation.

"Well, at first I couldn't find anything, but then I detected a slight trace of coniine. Coniine is the poisonous alkaloid found in hemlock, it's also what gives hemlock its fetid smell. Coniine is extremely toxic, you can die by only digesting 0.007 ounces. In 399 BC, Socrates was killed using Coniine. How it works is the coniine paralyzes your muscles by blocking your nicotinic receptor on your post-synaptic membrane of your neuromuscular junction which causes a flaccid paralysis."

"Wow, slow down Abby," Tony interrupted. "I didn't understand anything you just said."

"That's okay, all you need to know is that coniine causes respiratory paralysis, which stops the needed amount of oxygen from traveling to your heart and brain."

"Thanks Abby."

"Any time."

* * *

Ziva sat at her desk eyeing the clock, watching as the second hand slowly made its way around the clock for the millionth time. She was sure that her being assigned to wait for and welcome the new agent was punishment for forgetting to set her clock.

Just when she thought she was about to doze off, she noticed a woman walking towards her. The woman was of average height and had long, blonde, beautiful hair. She looked like she was only in her early twenties. The woman was dressed in a white blouse and light blue capris. She carried a purse over her shoulder and wore a lot of makeup. She looked as if she could be a supermodel.

As she approached Ziva she took of her sunglasses and held out her hand to shake Ziva's. "You must be Agent David, I'm Agent Ashley Cadwell. Agent Gibbs told me you would be waiting."


End file.
